New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals described the Pegasus basin as being undrilled and lying in as much as 3,000 m of water or more. It is thought prospective for gas, oil, and gas hydrates.

Source rocks include early Cretaceous marine shales, the late Cretaceous and Paleocene Whangai formation marine mudstone, and late Paleocene Waipawa formation marine black shale. Reservoir rocks include Cretaceous, Paleogene, and Neogene transgressive and turbidite sandstones and fractured Late Cretaceous to Paleocene shales.

Anadarko, which first worked in New Zealand in 2010, also has interests in the offshore deepwater Taranaki basin and offshore Canterbury basin and plans to drill its first wells on those permits in 2013 and 2014.

Shell GSB Ltd., OMV New Zealand Ltd., and Mitsui E&P Australia Pty. Ltd. took PEP 54863 in the Great South basin, and in the deepwater Taranaki basin Todd Exploration Ltd. and Cue Taranaki Pty. Ltd. won PEP 54865 and NZOG Canterbury Ltd. took PEP 54857.